Sliding door construction



Apri124, 1934. E W, CLARK 1,956,372

SLIDI NG DOOR CONSTRUCTION FiledAu'g. 17, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 24, 1934. E. w. CLARK 1,956,372

SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION y Filed Aug. 17, 192)I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n, 'n' IIIIIIIIIIIA frs STATES PATENT ortis SLIDING DOOR Earl W. Clark, Warren,

CONSTRUCTION Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to National Manufacturing Company, Sterling, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 17,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to sliding door constructions, and more particularly to devices of this character in which the door is provided with guiding means and adapted to be directed thereby to 5 and from open and closed positions.

While the invention is of general application to sliding door constructions of all kinds, it has particular adaptability to doors of comparatively massive construction such as warehouses, hangars and the like.

Perhaps the most general installation of the device is for garages, and the invention will therefore be described in connection therewith.

The larger types of sliding doors, being made large to permit access of large objects to the building are of necessity heavy and cumbersome at best. When it is desired to permit access of persons only, it is undesirable to operate the large door, and for this reason it is an important object of the invention to permit access through the sliding door without necessitating operation thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved locking means for the sliding door construction.

A specific object of the invention is to provide locking means for the sliding door which will also lock a smaller door therein, and permit operation of the smaller door without moving the larger door.

Other objects and features of novelty Will be apparent as the following description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

of the locking means.

Fig, 3 is a horizontal section taken through the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. fi is a detail of the means for locking the smaller door by the locking bar of the larger door.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the structure shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the latch for the smaller door;

and

Fig. 7 is a transverse section along the line '7--7 of Fig. l.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the invention is illustrated in connection with a garage having studding 10, siding 11, plates 12,

f and roof boards 13.

The front of the garage is 1929, Serial No. 386,624

provided with a door having a casing le and a sealing member 15.

The door comprises a plurality of segments 16, 17, 18 and 19 Which are hingedly connected together at their adjacent ends. The door is also provided with a plurality of rollers 20 adapted to cooperate with guide means for the door cornprising tracks 21 located at each side of the door opening. The lower portions of these tracks are vertical for substantially the height of the door. At the top of the door the tracks are curved along a smooth curve and extend horizontally into the interior of the garage, below the roof thereof.

For counterbalancing the weight of the door and facilitating its operation, a spring 22 is provided at each side of the door. The lower end of this spring is secured to the track by bolt 23 and bracket 24. The upper end of the spring is secured to a pulley block 25. The pulley block 25 is movable with the spring, and a stationary pulley block 26 is mounted near the top of the door. A chain or cable 27 is secured to the bottom of the door and extends upwardly along the edge thereof passing over the pulleys of block 26 and under the pulleys of block 25 in the manner shown. The pulley arrangement is such that a small movement of the spring results in a much greater movement of the door and Vice versa. The structure disclosed above is claimed in my copending application Serial No. 697,366, led Nov. 10, 1933 which application is a division of application Serial No. 386,622, led August 17, 1929.

According to the present invention, means are provided for permitting access through the larger door, and comprises a smaller door formed by portable sections 28, 29 and 30 formed in the sections 17, 1S and 19, respectively. The adjacent sides of these sections are provided with hinges 31 forming a flexible unit of the sections 28, 29 and 30 constituting the smaller door. The sections 28, 29 and 30 are each also hinged to the sections 17, 18 and 19 by means of hinges 32.

A simple and convenient locking means is provided for the respective doors and comprises a bar 33 slidable in guides 34, and a two-part bar 35-35 slidable in guides 34. The adjacent ends of the bars 33 and 35 are bent similarly but in opposite directions and slotted as at 36 to receive pins 37 projecting from the locking disc 38. The disc 38 is rigid with a shaft 39 journalled in a bushing 40 passing through the section 18 near the edge of the section 29. The disc 38 is provided with a notch 41 adapted to receive the latch 42 of a lock 43 providecLWith the usual key :movement can be transmitted from the handle slot 44. The bar is provided with a hinge which is in vertical alignment with the hinges 32 when the parts are in the unlocked position. The other end of the bar 35 is enlarged as at 46 and provided with a slot 47 adapted to receive a pin 48 carried by the bar 35. Beyond the enlarged portion 46 an extension 49 is provided which is adapted to slide under a bridge piece 50 which forms a guide for the bar 35; The bridge 50 carries a spring clip 51 having a rounded outer end 52 adapted to cooperate with a slot 53 in the bar 35 and retain it in the unlocked position. The outer ends of bars 33 and 35 respectively engage slots 61 and 62 in the guide tracks 21.

An individual latch is provided for the smaller door as shown in detail in Fig. 6. A shaft 54 passes through the door and is provided at each end with a handle 55. Rigid with the shaft is a latch bar 56 adapted to slide underclips 57 carried by the stationary portion of the larger door.

In operation, assuming that the parts are in the unlocked position, the smaller door constituted by sections 28, 29 and 30 may be opened by swinging about the hinges 32. When the smaller door is closed the slot 47 in the bar 35 will fit over the pin 48 on the bar 35', and the smaller door is held in place by operating the handle 55. Turning the handle 60 will cause 'the pins 37 carried by the disc 38, operating in the slots 36 to urge the bars 33 and 35 laterally. The outer end of the bar 33 will enter a slot in a stationary portion of the garage and the y:extension 49 of the bar 35 will pass under the bridge 50 which will secure this end of the bar 35. However, the slot 47 will urge the pin 48 laterally and thus move the bar 35 outwardly to engage with a slot in a stationary portion of the other side of the garage. Thus the locking 60 to the bar 35 without interfering with the arrangements for opening and closing the smaller door constituted by the sections 28, 29 and 30. The locking movement brings the notch 41 'under the latch 43, which secures the parts in locked position.

To unlock, a key is inserted in slot 44, and handle 60 is turned, reversing the locking movement described above and unlocking both doors. The handle 55 is then turned to release the smaller door, which may now be opened, as the bridge 50 will release the end 49, and the pin 48 will release the slot 47. Thus the smaller door may be opened without opening or otherwise disturbing the larger door.

While one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in comparative detail for the purposes of adequate disclosure, the broad idea thereof is not limited to the details disclosed', but includes such embodiments or modifications as fall within the scope of the subjoined claims.

' Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In a sliding door construction, a sliding door, a smaller door therein, aligned locking bars mounted on the sliding door, a portion of one of said bars being hinged to permit opening of the smaller door independently oi said sliding door, and means for simultaneously moving said locking bars into locking' position.

2. In a door construction, a doorway, a slidable door mounted therein comprising a series of panels separated on horizontal lines, hinges connecting said panels said hinges comprising hinge leaves and hinge pins, guide rollers mounted on the outside hinge pins said guide rollers engaging a guide track extending upwardly, a smaller door comprising a series of sections pivotally supported in said slidable door said smaller door comprising portions cut from a plurality of said slidable door sections said smaller door sections being connected together by parallel f i hinges and connected to said slidable door by hinges so as to swing about an axis perpendlcular to said parallel hinges, locking bars for said slidable door extending across the face of said slidable door and said smaller door in a substantially horizontal position and adapted to engage locking means at the sides of said slidable door, a portion of one of said locking bars adapted to swing in a substantially horizontal plane with said smaller door to permit entrance through said smaller door.

EARL W. CLARK. 

